This has been my breakfast for a while. And yeah, it’s a weird breakfast but I’m beginning to like a lot of strange foods. So if they are any fellow weird breakfast eaters out there, this one is for you.

I always seem to be craving salty foods in the morning, but I can’t always do eggs. This is my alternative – sweet potato + sausage + avocado + tahini (on everything, all the time). Call it a leftover dish – you could have this for any meal of the day to use up that leftover sweet potato or meat in the fridge. I always try to have leftover sweet potato in the fridge – it makes eating lots of vegetables easier for me. I also like to load this bowl with LSA for some extra fibre (& I like the taste!). But if you see LSA as the equivalent to adding prunes to the bowl then that’s cool – skip it out. We will still be friends.

Sweet potato is one of my faves and is a carbohydrate that wont spike blood glucose too quickly in the morning = keeps you fuller for longer than some other breakfast foods that are ‘just like a chocolate milkshake, only crunchy’ aka coco pops (for those who don’t live in this country and have no idea what I’m on about, I’m sorry). Sweet potato is versatile, making it great with whatever meat you have to use up – I used some sausage that I had leftover this time. While sausage isn’t the healthiest of the meats, I’m also a poor uni student…but smoked salmon and chicken also taste great in this.

METHOD:
Combine the sweet potato + meat (heat these two up now if using leftovers), avocado, and pistachios in a bowl. Smoother with tahini (extra is allowed), drizzle with honey, sprinkle with LSA (if using) + sea salt to taste.

It’s at this point I like to mix it all up until it doesn’t resemble anything edible and looks nothing like the pretty picture. Feel free to add this step in too. Here’s to breakfast – the most important meal of the day.

Sweet potato is the best. I think I’ve decided it’s my favourite vegetable. But then I think I’m cheating because it’s sweet…and then I feel guilty because my favourite vegetable doesn’t even taste like a vegetable and fuels my crazy sweet tooth.

So I thought I would make myself feel better and research the other good things about the king of vegetables aka sweet potato, and then give you a super easy recipe to up your vegie intake and cure serious hunger at 3 pm before eating a whole tray of Tim Tams. There are so many reasons why sweet potato is my favourite.

LOTS OF VITAMINS & OTHER GOOD STUFF

This vegetable is high in vitamin B6, which I need in high doses due to having pyroluria, but it is also important in the synthesis of many molecules in the body and is involved in heaps of enzymatic reactions.

It supports the activity of the nervous system and is involved in the breakdown of glycogen, which is important in ensuring we have the energy we need throughout the day.

It’s a good source of vitamin C, which we all know is important to ward off the nasty cold and flu, also helps in wound healing, and lots of other good stuff.

IT’S ORANGE

Orange is a great colour, which gives sweet potato brownie points in my book. The orange colour is actually due to carotenoids – mainly one called beta carotene. Beta carotene is converted into vitamin A in the body, which is needed for healthy skin, boosts immunity, strengthens eyesight, and helps reduce the risk of cancer and fights the signs of ageing.

That’s a lot of good reasons to eat some orange. To increase absorption of beta carotene in our sweet potato, a small amount of fat (3-5 grams) should be consumed with it. We are going to toss our chips with some olive oil and will have some tahini to serve it with so we have that covered.

GOOD CARBOHYDRATE SOURCE

Although it is a sweet and starchy root vegetable, eating sweet potato has actually been found to help regulate blood sugar levels. Being on a gluten free diet, my carbohydrate sources are limited so sweet potato provides me with some carbs for energy, has a decent amount of fibre to increase satiety (you feel fuller between meals), and depending on how it is cooked, can be around a medium GI so it shouldn’t cause a massive spike in blood glucose levels.

*NUTRITION RANT HAS NOW ENDED*

So now you have some more reasons to love sweet potato… if you even read all that nutrition stuff above. I forget not EVERYONE is interested in the nutrition side…*sigh* so I guess I will let it slide. As long as you know that sweet potato is great.

Sweet potato chips are my go-to for a healthy snack (tricks my brain into thinking I am eating a ‘sweet’ snack), an easy lunch, or a side dish as an alternative to regular potato. There aren’t the crunchy type chip, they are more for the floppy chip lovers out there (which do exist). If cumin isn’t your thing, just leave it out – sweet potato has lots of flavour on its own anyway, its that good.

Whisk lemon juice and tahini together and serve with the chips. I just dunk my chips in.

Enjoy, knowing you are eating a couple of serves of vegetables and putting good stuff into your body.

Just make sure you have lots of different vegetables throughout the day as well to make sure you get a variety of vitamins and minerals provided by all the different coloured vegies. I am saying this to myself…as I could happily just eat sweet potato all day as my entire vegetable food group.

As my nutrition lecturer likes to say, eat a rainbow. And when she says that, she means fruit and vegetables…not skittles and m&ms. You were all thinking it.

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All recipes, photos, and posts on this site are the original creations and property of Melinda Pasfield - Designer Health. You are welcome to share a photo but please link to the recipe from this site. Thanks!